Croatian Coast Photo Gallery

Photograph by Aaron Huey

The island town of Hvar, Croatia, population 3,600, was one of the numerous waypoints on the writer’s journey to Lastovo Island, as covered in the May/June 2011 article, "A Light on the Croatian Coast" by Paul Kvinta. Hvar’s 16th-century fortress overlooks a harbor situated on historic trade routes of the Adriatic and the Mediterranean.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Split, a coastal city on the Croatian mainland, has an international airport and ferry service, making it a good jumping off point to the Dalmatian lighthouse lodges featured in the Traveler article, "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Glavat Island, which the author visited on his tour of the Dalmatian Coast, is a speck of land 150 yards wide, where the only residents are thousands of shrieking gulls that circle round and round the lighthouse like some eerie scene from Hitchcock’s The Birds.

For more, read "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Passersby stretch out on the pier at Zadar, an historic mainland city on the Adriatic, where the author visited the International Centre for Underwater Archaeology. Croatia has 1,244 islands sprinkled along its rocky coast, and around them lie evidence of the maritime powers that have historically battled for control here: the Romans, Illyrians, Venetians, and others.

For more, read "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Giving in to the lure of pomalo, the Dalmatian philosophy of taking it easy, the author, Paul Kvinta, at right, shares a toast with his hosts Jure and Nada Kvinta, who share his surname and possibly a family connection. The couple maintains Struga lighthouse on Lastovo Island.

For more, read "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Lastovo village, set in a natural amphitheater, curiously, faces inland rather than toward the sea. Unlike other Dalmatian towns laid out proudly on seafront real estate—places like Split, Hvar, and Dubrovnik—Lastovo has hidden its churches, bell towers, and red-roofed villas from the scrutiny of passing ships. Why? Historically, the villagers were pirates.

For more, read "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

South of Hvar, off the coast of the uninhabited island of Sveti Klement, college students out for a sailing lesson take time to swim in crystalline waters. “Travelers sail these islands on day tours as well as trips lasting a week,” says photographer Aaron Huey.

For more, read "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.

Photograph by Aaron Huey

Visitors enjoy a café in Zadar, which was the capital of Dalmatia for centuries. Historic churches abound here, as well as a Roman forum dating between the first century B.C. and third century A.D.

For more, read "A Light on the Croatian Coast" from the May/June 2011 issue of National Geographic Traveler.